San Juan Island Adventures

With impending rain, Captain Mike steered the M/V Sea Lion north with Naturalists Heather and Emily, and guests in tow.  The goal: transient killer whales off North Pender Island in Canada.  A little Northwest rain did not dampen any spirits on board and before we knew it we were rewarded with great views of 7 transient orcas traveling southeast in Swanson Channel.  T137 and her offspring T137A, T137B, and T137D were traveling with T36A and her two offspring T36A-1...

Captain Mike, Naturalists Emily and Kevin, and guests on board the Sea Lion were lucky enough to see K Pod on yesterday's Whale Watch Tour!  This is the first tour of the year where we were able to view our Southern Resident Killer Whales.  K Pod, comprised of 19 individual orcas, returned in full to the waters surrounding San Juan Island.  This pod was spread out into 3 traveling groups, all headed east from Victoria, B.C. towards the west side of San Juan Island. ...

Although the day started out grey, the sunshine quickly took over in the San Juan Islands.  Captain Mike lead Naturalist Emily, Naturalist Kevin, and the guests on board the M/V Sea Lion north out of Friday Harbor in the pursuit of orcas.  We started the morning with no orca reports, which is common in the early season, so we went to look in areas that orcas frequent in the San Juans. As we were headed around the north side of Spieden Island two dorsal fins were...

Spring has sprung in the Pacific North West and everyone is ready to get back on the water!  With our first Whale Watch and Wildlife Tour in two weeks time, we are all hoping for a great season.  Recent predictions concerning salmon runs should contribute to another wonderful summer.  Canada is predicting up to 72 million sockeye salmon to return to the Frasier River this summer, which is far higher than the typical 3-4 million.  Chinook and coho salmon are...

Many animals call the San Juan Islands home.  From kelp crabs to orcas and finches to eagles the San Juans have and abundance of species.  With both ocean and land environments, birds of all sorts abound on San Juan Island.  Bald Eagles and Peregrine Falcons are two top predators of the sky.

Bald Eagles are well known as the national bird of the United States.  Bald Eagles mate for life and return every year to the same nest.  They even have the ingenuity to build...

Another fabulous day on San Juan Island! Our Owner and Captain Brian was out on the water today and spotted transient orcas near Henry Island late this morning.  T18 was out with the T19 group hunting in Open Bay and off Battleship Island.  We often see these transient orcas in the summer months as well.  Harbor seals were the main course this morning, a favorite of transient orcas.  Brian observed lots a vocalizations after the hunt was over.  Transients are often...

On February 11, 2012, L112 a 3 year old Southern Resident Killer Whale was found stranded on the shores of Long Beach Washington.  L112, more lovingly referred to as Sooke, was the daughter of L86 Surprise!.  After two years of debate and research,  it has been concluded that Sooke died of a massive blunt force trauma to the head and neck.  It was proposed that sonar and explosives  were the cause of death as the Canadian Navy confirmed they were doing testing off...

J Pod was spotted in Haro Strait this week powering through the waves.  High winds have made our normally calm waters a more thrilling ride.  With such high waves a count was not able to be taken, but it is thought all of J Pod was out there, including Granny (J2) and Onyx (L87).

In resident orca communities, offspring usually swim with their mothers, or close family members, their whole lives.  This is not the case for Onyx.  Onyx lost his mother in 2005, and instead of...

The weather has been a little all over the place lately, so the sunshine is a wonderful reminder of how great San Juan Island is.  All the sunshine makes summer seem that much closer!  We are eagerly awaiting the 2014 season, as it seems like it will be the best yet.  With many tours already booked, it is already looking like a great summer.

J-Pod has been in and out of Puget Sound all winter, and we hope to starting seeing the whole gang more often as winter turns to...

With several snow flurries and whale sightings in the San Juan area, it was a great weekend!  While San Juan Island did not accumulate much snow, that has not been the case for Mt. Baker.  With 8 new inches in the last 8 hours, this week will be perfect for a skiing get away.

Vocalizations from J-Pod and L-87, who travels with J-Pod, were heard Saturday night on the Lime Kiln State Park hydrophone.  The clicks and whistles were easily distinguished from shoreline noise. ...